A new home
by OdinCrusades
Summary: Blake finds herself adopted by the Xaio Long family when a rally turns violent.


"Blake, wake up."

A hand shook Blake gently awake.

"Blake, the rally is today."

Blake yawned and opened her eyes. One of the adults, Gareth was the one waking her up.

"Wha-" Blake yawned again, "What time is it?"

"Six in the morning. "

Blake looked out one of the windows in the warehouse they'd been sleeping in. It was still dark. She frowned and rubbed her eyes.

Gareth produced a brown paper bag and shook it.

"Here, Martha packed you lunch. You've got a bottle of water, an apple, some sandwiches- tuna with the crusts on and…" Gareth's voice dropped to a low whisper. "A bar of chocolate."

Blake hugged Gareth happily as he leant in to place the bag by her feet.

"Thank you." She whispered. "For the chocolate."

Gareth laughed. "No problem, little one." He walked off.

A good-natured groan came to Blake's left, and an elderly Faunaus slowly got to his feet.

Blake liked Albus. Whilst he was the leader of the White Fang, he wasn't mean. He was quite the opposite. He spoke with everyone, slept on the floor like everyone else and had his meals with everyone. He liked speaking with the police who made sure everything was peaceful, and the news reporters.

He was also quite old, a long straggly beard and chipped ram horns showing his body's age. That, and how he was complaining about his back. Blake stood, picked up her lunch bag and walked over, pushing between legs to move through the crowd that always gravitated around the 'old goat'.

"Good morning, Tuskon, Grayson, Alan, Perry, Doe… And hello Blake!" Albus said, spotting the young feline faunaus make her way over. "How are you today?"

"Here." Blake said, shyly digging in her lunch bag and holding the apple up.

"Such a kind little girl." Albus said, patting Blake's shoulder and taking the apple. "Thank you Blake."

Blake smiled and moved to the front of the crowd that had now woken up and congregated towards the dais in the warehouse.

Albus took a bite from the apple and waited for quiet.

"Sorry to have you all up before the sun is, but today we've got a big event. The Schnee Dust company-"

He waited for the angry grumbles to subside.

"- is going to be securing a new deal with landowners in Vale. That's why we took the boat, and I understand that the Schnee patriarch is the one securing the deal. And he's bringing his daughters. May I remind all of you that you are not to throw stones or punch or spit or make any sort of violent action towards them. They are people just like us, and we need to show that we can peacefully demonstrate. Who knows, perhaps the children will win this for us." Albus glanced towards the front row, where Blake and several other young Faunaus were standing.

"Aside from that, have a wonderful breakfast and don't forget to pick up a placard!" Albus waved the crowd away towards the tables used for preparing breakfast and took another bite of the apple.

"Why does he always eat last? The food gets cold." Someone muttered. Blake turned her head to see a red-haired boy, several years older than her. His name was Adam.

"Because he's not above us, but a part of us."

"That won't do anything. He needs to be decisive and show that he's our leader."

"You're strange." Blake said.

* * *

After their breakfast, the White Fang made their way towards the hall where the deal was to be signed.

Blake walked at the front, along with Albus and several other children. They drew a lot of attention, holding placards and banners. Some of the onlookers looked friendly. Others not so much.

There was already a crowd of men outside the hall. In the spot which Albus had reserved.

Albus held up a hand and motioned for his crowd to stop. He stepped forwards.

"Good morning. It appears that you're where we were supposed to be."

A man wearing a bloodstained butcher's apron stepped forwards.

"That's right. So you can all go off back to your hovels, or wherever you beasts come from." He said.

The White Fang started to mutter and grumble angrily.

"There's no need for that language to be used." Albus replied, frowning. "And we can move elsewhere."

It was at that point the doors to the hall opened. Several security drones walked out and set themselves at intervals between the crowds and the car that pulled up.

The stone was thrown by a member of the White Fang. It arced and hit one of the robots. Two white-haired girls peeked from behind its legs.

"They attacked the heiresses! Get them!" The butcher called, charging towards the White Fang.

"No, there is no need to fight! Please-" Albus began to say, but was cut off when the men met the front of the White Fang protesters.

Chaos descended. Blake tried to step back, but tripped as the press of human and Faunas grew stronger.

One of the men grabbed her. It was the butcher. Blake smelt blood and leather and fear. He reached into his apron and withdrew something bloodstained and metal.

Shears.

"You're not natural. Those ears are not natural." He growled.

"No!" Blake screamed, trying to break free. But he was strong, stronger than she was.

"Hold still, little girl. This will all be over soon."

One arm wrapped around her throat, the other waved the shears in front of her face.

Blake scratched and kicked and bit, but it didn't faze the butcher.

The shears moved up and over her head. Blake heard them squeak slightly as they opened.

She took in a deep breath and tried to be brave, hoping that someone, anyone would come and save her.

Something slammed into them, knocking them to the paved floor. The shears cut a line on Blake's forehead, and she held her breath as she fell from the butcher's grasp. Hot blood trickled down her face as she rolled onto her back.

There was a scuffle, and then a loud thud as a body hit the floor.

A blonde man dressed in leather stood over the butcher, flexing his hand as the butcher laid out cold, blood tricking from a broken nose.

He knelt down, inspecting her with purple eyes.

"Come on. Let's get you out of here." His voice was calm and reassuring.

Blake nodded, wanting to get away from the horrible fighting.

He picked her up in strong arms, holding her close to his chest as he moved away from the violence and towards the wailing sirens.


End file.
